9,993 miles...

[tomatocity]

Almost 10,000 miles and it is parked on the backyard patio. Opened the garage and the left hinge broke. This delays the oil and filter change.

Happy 10K Delay!

 

[EricV]

Hey, you can change the oil out on the patio. <helping>


Could be worse, I went out to go for a ride several years back, only to push the garage door button and hear a gunshot! Then, (after I cleaned my shorts), I realized that one of the garage door springs had broken. No way that heavy ass, wood, double garage door was going up w/o one of the springs. I couldn't get the bike or the car out of the garage for two days until I got someone out to replace the springs. At least my old beater truck was parked outside so I could get to work!

Sort of killed that weekend's riding plans.

Congrats on almost hitting the 10k mark! ::018::

 

[tomatocity]

Forgot to mention the 25-30 mph winds we were experiencing. The garage door hinge problem is more than what I expected. Maybe repaired by tomorrow. On the patio, did drain the oil last night and refilled today.

Still 9,993 Miles

 

[Dirt_Dad]

I feel your pain. I got mine to about 9,400 miles, then my wife stole it from me. Now she is getting close to hitting 10K, but I'm back down to just 791 miles. Gonna take me another 6 months before I get back to being ready to hit 10K.

 

[EricV]

I feel your pain. I got mine to about 9,400 miles, then my wife stole it from me. Now she is getting close to hitting 10K, but I'm back down to just 791 miles. Gonna take me another 6 months before I get back to being ready to hit 10K.

6 months? Head South and turn right, find ocean, turn around and ride East until you find another ocean, turn around and head West, ride a bit, then North to home. Repeat as needed. Or, man up and sing up here: 10 'n 10 I'll see you in the parking lot and the rest will take care of itself.

 

[tomatocity]

Finished the oil and filter change, cleaned the windshield and paint. Looked to good to sit on the porch so we rode to Cordova Shooting Center for a look see. Went to a different place for a burger. Returned home with 10,030 on the odometer. Officially a 10K'r in 7 months and 9 days. Bet ya I get to 20K quicker but not before leaving for Whitehorse YT in 3 months.

Darn, only 3 months ???

 

[Dirt_Dad]

6 months? Head South and turn right, find ocean, turn around and ride East until you find another ocean, turn around and head West, ride a bit, then North to home. Repeat as needed. Or, man up and sing up here: 10 'n 10 I'll see you in the parking lot and the rest will take care of itself.

That would sound great if I had the time to do it all on back roads, but I don't. The idea of doing that on the slab is dreadful. So although I would like to follow your recommendations, my reality is it will probably take me about 6 months. Looks like it will take me 17 days to get the first 1K in, so I should be there by September. My bigger question is how long for me to catch up with my wife's S10? She doesn't ride nearly as much as me so I'm thinking I'll catch her sometime in the summer of 2013.


Congrats tomatocity. I always like these milestones. I also reached 10K miles of Super Tenere riding this past week, but I don't have a single odometer to show it. Some how that just feels less legitimate to me.

 

[EricV]

No need to take slab, just stay on the bike. I hear you thought, time and money to go riding is a factor for us all. Actually there are endurance rallies far closer to you that occur in 12 and 24 hour forms that you may find interesting. It's not about slab riding, per se, it's about you planning and riding a route to collect the bonus locations you want to go to. I can just about guarantee that you will see things and ride roads you never would otherwise and have fun doing it. Check this out for some interesting events - LINK

 

[Dirt_Dad]

it's about you planning and riding a route

There in lies the problem. I don't like riding with a plan. A general idea that may or may not get thrown out is fine. But I reject nearly all requirements to achieve something when I ride. Time pressures and requirements are for real life. Riding is all about recreation for me.

 

[EricV]

There in lies the problem. I don't like riding with a plan. A general idea that may or may not get thrown out is fine. But I reject nearly all requirements to achieve something when I ride. Time pressures and requirements are for real life. Riding is all about recreation for me.

Nothing wrong with that. ::008::

I'm more task oriented. I almost never "just go for a ride". I go places. Sometimes I wander, but at the end of the day I have had fun and either accomplished a goal, or furthered that goal, even if it was a trivial one. I hate riding the same roads over and over and never ride a road, then turn around to ride it over again, just because it was a fun road. There are always more fun roads ahead for me.

I still don't understand when people complain about slab or say that prefer back roads. I'm riding, and what kind of road I'm riding on is moot, it's all fun. ::001:: This is part of why I put miles on. I like having an excuse to go for a ride, but I don't need much of one. Smoke Chasing Grand Tour, Big Money Rally, endurance rallies, or just a RTE several states away to meet up with friends old and new, have some good food and ride away after a few of hours. I rode to TX last month just for a RTE and scored some BMR bonus locations on the way to increase the fun factor. Got to ride some great roads in the TX hill country and had some great days in the saddle, even the all slab run home from TX was fun, if not as much fun in the rain or wind.

 

[Tremor38]

I'm kinda sorta of Dirt Dad's mindset, but not entirely. I have to at least think about my route, because, contrary to what Eric says about all roads being fun as long as you're riding, there are a few routes where I live that are just torture no matter what you're riding.
One in particular is full of semi-tractor trailors. It is 2-way, one lane per direction, and silly narrow as most Japanese roads are. You can surgically pick your way through one long group of semis and get excited about the clear road in front of you only to come up on the next clump of trucks around the next bend..then come the intersection where you don't even have enough room to lane split to the light in most cases...not fun in my book I'd rather pay for the toll road or go out of my way to a coastal route.

 

[tomatocity]

Garage door repaired. Nothing difficult though more than expected. Six lag bolts. Two for the hinge and four for the door frame. Good for another 50 years.

I like Dirt Dads idea but there is something that has stuck with me since I was seventeen. A father figure was taking a driver safety class (he was a manager of a trucking company). I remember him telling all four young men about the class and one thing that stayed with me was "having a plan where you would be driving when you get in the vehicle". Works for me since it gets me into he driving mode. When my route does not look good or fun or safe I go rogue and open the route, eyes wide open, ears perked up, and smile on.

 

[Dirt_Dad]

I usually have an idea of where we're going. Just don't care if I get there. Like last summer the plan was Nova Scotia, we made it but also ended up in downtown Montreal on that trip. Which definitely was no where near the plan. Sometimes the plan has been look at the radar in the morning and ride in a direction that will avoid rain. Started the day in Massachusetts, radar said go ride to the Adirondacks in NY, found an interesting looking road before the border of NY and spent that night in Concord, NH. I actually map out a route on the GPS before a trip. It's a fall back in case I'm out of ideas or inspiration along the way.

 

[tomatocity]

I usually have an idea of where we're going. Just don't care if I get there. Like last summer the plan was Nova Scotia, we made it but also ended up in downtown Montreal on that trip. Which definitely was no where near the plan. Sometimes the plan has been look at the radar in the morning and ride in a direction that will avoid rain. Started the day in Massachusetts, radar said go ride to the Adirondacks in NY, found an interesting looking road before the border of NY and spent that night in Concord, NH. I actually map out a route on the GPS before a trip. It's a fall back in case I'm out of ideas or inspiration along the way.

I like that. Have plans and are willing to evaluate.